Talent on show

In the next couple of days Wintec’s School of Media Arts celebrations culminate for the year in a graduation exhibition (GE) that will showcase and highlight their students’ broad range of talent.

In this way Wintec students, whanau and staff alike, this week, will bid farewell to a year that does not have to be entirely remembered, for the COVID19 pandemic but perhaps also for how people like Wintec students ‘pushed forward, learning how to adapt to change and achieve strong results in spite of adversity.’

And celebrate they have been in the last two weeks. Students, their whānau, their tutors and industry representatives have been feasting on a smorgasbord of talent. Although, luckily for whānau and friends, it is showcased for free.

The last two weeks have accentuated the Media Arts Music and Performing Arts show case at the Meteor Theatre. Last week was also the first ever performance by the inaugural theatre students, who hit the boards in the Garden of Rikki Tikki Tavi, adapted from a Rudyard Kipling story.

This year has been tough for a lot of students, says School of Media Arts, Principal Academic Staff Member and Graphic Design Programme Co-ordinator, Luke McConnell.

“This year has been tough for a lot of students but as you will see in the exhibition they have pushed forward learning how to adapt to change and achieve strong results in spite of adversity.”

One example of this can be seen in third year Bachelor of Communication degree student Jordan Holland Quintal’s story.

“Once lockdown hit I lost all motivation (to do [complete] one of my papers). I needed to do just one of my classes. It was like I needed to use some of the stuff here at Wintec. I didn’t have access to it. So, I just lost all motivation in doing it [that paper].”

Holland-Quintal says he never regained motivation, instead being encouraged by Bachelor of Communications tutors like Elna Fourie to persevere forward and finish his degree. Holland-Quintal did another paper.

“I’ve always wanted to be an
on-air announcer. I did an internship up north for six months and I found that
really fun,” he says.

Holland-Quintal says he put something together last week for this week’s Graduation Exhibition.

“I’m going to be displaying. It’s going to be like a radio show but I’m going to record it on camera because radio’s been something that I have been passionate about. So, I thought I’d leave Wintec with that.”

Holland-Quintal joins dozens of other students to become the first intake (Bachelor of Communication) and a possible graduate of brand-new Wintec degrees.

Gemma Roberts joins Holland-Quintal with her final year in the Bachelor of Design degree.

Roberts actually designed the GE poster (posters being her speciality) and will display some of her other designs on Thursday.

“I have created three skateboard illustrations showcasing my journey with migraines. I’ll be displaying those and a lot of my other little projects that I’ve done.”

Roberts shies away when it is suggested that the Wintec School of Media Arts must have hunted her down to design the GE poster based on her grades. She instead attributes any talent recognition to her Instagram account. “I upload all of my projects on Instagram and they just thought that I had the fit and style. They really wanted that. I think I got all the colours that they wanted and then my idea behind it was free flowing like the ups and downs of the design process. Its not straight forward. Study is everywhere.”

Roberts has found it unusual to be recognised for her work and congratulated by her own ‘design’ peers who simply applaud her work.

“I’m obviously proud of myself. Like it’s a weird (unaccustomed) feeling. Like you see it (the posters of her artwork in the Graduation Exhibition posters around Wintec) everywhere and you are ‘like, I made that’. That is so weird. And we are printing hundreds of copies. Like it’s not just one. It’s quite a lot.”

Wintec School of Arts storyteller, Holly Russell, opens up about the GE and the number of students who this year, despite the pandemic, have soldiered on to finish their final year in new Wintec degrees, namely the inaugural Bachelor of Communication and Bachelor of Design degrees.

Both Russell and Megan Lyon worked with School of Media Arts colleagues on the GE event. Lyon directs Ramp Festival at Wintec which was presented as a podcast series titled Ramp Connects this year due to Covid-19. 

“So that’s so exciting for us, to see students come all the way through. It’s the School of Media Art’s first graduating class for the Bachelor of Communication. So they’ll present a portfolio of their work for the first time. It may be their stories or snippets of their interviews or documentary films of their photography or storytelling work”.

Bachelor of Communications tutor, Elna Fourie adds, “As the first cohort of graduating students from the Bachelor of Communication, the graduating exhibition is an opportunity for them to share some of their hard work, and to showcase the variety of things that they can do. It’s also a great opportunity for all of us to celebrate!”

Holly Russell continues, “historically we have always opened up our classrooms to the public. It’s kind of like an open studio environment.  A week before everyone mucks in, painting walls, cleaning up the space and moving out furniture. The exhibition is open to friends and whanau and the arts community”.

Another first in the GE will be a Silent Auction in Ramp Gallery on the opening night. “You (anyone) can just go up and bid silently. So, it’s not going to be that kind (with a loud auctioneer). We were hoping to create a little bit of excitement and a forum where we can encourage our community to support local artists in the auction

“We normally get hundreds of people through the doors with friends, whanau and the creative community. We get a lot of support each year. It’s always a really exciting and thrilling night,” adds Russell.

Opening night is this Thursday 26 November at 4.30pm. The silent auction is believed to wrap up by 7pm.